


Sachiko's Plight

by Sephirotha



Category: Brothers Conflict
Genre: Adopted Children, Mild Language, Parkour
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 19:24:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3541142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephirotha/pseuds/Sephirotha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bad things always happen in spring. It was when she born, it was when her mother got promoted, it was when she had to move in with her new stepbrothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“What the fuck do you mean you’re getting remarried?!” Sachiko yelled down the phone as she stopped stroking Wolf’s ears.

Wolf whined as he nosed her hand insistently.

“Language, young lady!” the woman scolded on the other side “He proposed and I said yes!  His sons are eager to welcome you into their home.”

“Oh no, no, no, no!” Sachiko wagged her finger “I am not moving in with his sons!  This is my home, you haven’t been here for years, you cannot decide where I’m moving to or who I’m moving in with!”

“Sachi, don’t exaggerate…”

“Look, I’m happy that you got your job overseas as some international worldwide journalist or something like that but let’s face it, you haven’t been here since my twelfth birthday and you didn’t even tell me about this guy when you met him or when you started going out with him, this is the first I’ve heard of this guy!”

“Well maybe if you’d pick up the phone and call me once in a while…”

“You’re always busy!” Sachiko raised her voice as she stood from her seat “And what about you?!  Not even one crappy postcard!”

“Well you could send me letters too, you know or text me?”

“I do and you know that, check your damn Japanese phone, not your international one,” Sachiko sighed as she walked towards the fridge and grabbed a bottle of milk.

“Why send them there, I never use it.”

“It’s cheaper that way,” Sachiko shrugged before taking a swig of milk.

Wolf barked for attention and she reached out to pet him with her foot.

“You have a dog?” the woman on the other side sounded surprised.

“You could say, I found him, fed him and he’s loyal.  It’s good to have something to keep me company.”

“Well why didn’t you ask me to get you one?  I could have gotten you a pure bred instead of some mongrel.”

“This mongrel is my loyal companion, it doesn’t matter if a dog is mixed or pure bred, they’re dogs who need attention and love.”

“Don’t tell me you have the whole pound there.”

“I’d love to but no, I just drop off the other animals I find at the animal rescue centre.”

“And this…dog that you have?”

“Like I said, Wolf is special and keeps me company.”

“Wolf?  Really, you couldn’t think of a better name?”

“Eh,” Sachiko shrugged “Seemed fitting.”

“How long have you had him?”

“Five years,” Sachiko said with a tone of malice to give her a guilt trip.

“Oh right.”

Sachiko shrugged again as she sat up on the kitchen counter.

“I’m still not moving into these guys’ apartment,” she said.

“Sachi, they’re going to be your new family, you need to get to know them and you won’t be so lonely anymore.”

“I’m not lonely, I have Wolf, I’m fine.”

“It’ll be fun, the family you’ve always wanted.”

Sachiko tensed as she bottle broke in her grip, milk and glass spilling everywhere.

“Damn, it’s hard to find bottles of milk like these nowadays,” she huffed, ignoring the woman expressing her concern “Shut up, I may have wanted an older brother or a dad when I was younger but I’m over it.”

She shoved her foot in Wolf’s nose and he backed up, making sure not to go anywhere near the milk and glass.

“Sachi, stop being so stubborn.  They’re all excited to meet you.”

Sachiko sighed as she shrugged.

“How many are there?”

“Thirteen.”

“Jesus, fuck, what is he a man-whore?!”

“Sachi!”

“Thirteen sons?!  How is that possible, surely he has daughters!”

“Well…”

“He has daughters too,” Sachiko sighed resignedly.

“Sachi, he just has custody over the boys and the wives take custody of the daughters.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sachiko held up a finger “Wait a minute, wait a minute, wives?  As in plural wives?  What?!”

“Oh, I, uh um, happen to be the seventh woman he’s marrying…”

“Oh HELL no!” Sachiko shouted and was met with a loud banging next door “Oh shut up, everyone has problems and has different ways of dealing with it, just bear with me for a goddamn moment!”

“Sachi!”

“I am not moving into their apartment if you’re going to go into this marriage even though you know his track record for keeping wives!”

“Well they all had their problems and I think it would be nice for you to have a father and brothers, it will help with your growing up.”

“No way.”

“Sachi, it’ll be much better if you move out of that cramped little apartment and into their place where it’ll be more spacious and you’ll be closer to the school, you’ll be able to get help with your work!”

“It’ll be problematic, I’ll have to figure out a new route to school,” Sachiko sighed as she covered her eyes.

“You can just walk with your new brothers.”

“Urgh, you wouldn’t understand.  I’m still opposed to this.”

“Sachi, please?  Do this for me?”

“If he only has custody over the sons then why should I go and live with them?  I can stay here.”

“Sachi, as your mother, please just move in and be part of a family!”

“Shut up!” Sachiko screamed “Just shut the fuck up!”

She threw the phone hard into the opposite wall where it left a dent and the phone probably broke by the sound of the tone it made when it dropped to the floor.  Wolf saw this as a game as he ran over and began tearing it apart.  Sachiko brought her knees up to her chest and huffed.

“Bad things always happen in spring,” she grumbled “New beginnings my ass, tch…”

She glared out of the window miserably as Wolf began barking aggressively at the chewed up phone.

 

* * *

 

“Yay, yay, yay!” Yuuki cheered as he sat in front of the TV screen “Baby sheep are so cute, look at them jumping, Akira!”

Akira lifted his head from his book to look at the lambs skipping across the field before switching back to his book.

“Yes, spring is wonderful,” he nodded “New things happen in spring, it’s exciting, isn’t it?”

“And I’m going to have a new big sister, yay, yay, yay!”

“Oh, that’s why you’re so excited,” Daiki laughed as he came down the stairs with some healthy snacks and a glass of milk.

“So you heard, huh?” Sora hummed as he stuck a piece of pocky in his mouth “Annoying, I thought father only cared for sons.”

“Well it’ll be nice to have a girl around, wouldn’t it?” Daiki shrugged as Yuuki lunged for the plate of snacks.

“It’ll be annoying,” Sora insisted.

“How long has it been since I lived with a lovely woman?” Tsubasa sighed as he leaned against the sofa.

“You mainly live at your office,” Sora retorted as Kohaku let out a rough cough “And no, you certainly do not count.”

Tsubasa just grinned and Kohaku pouted whilst Riku flipped through his magazine.

“I wonder what this sister is like,” he muttered “She’s seventeen, right?”

“Yeah and owns a dog,” Daiki sighed.

“Yay, we’re getting a dog!” Yuuki cheered with his mouth full of oatmeal biscuits.

“Heaven forbid,” Kohaku sighed as he continued writing on his notepad “Those mangy mutts chew things up, desecrate where they please and are so noisy.”

“But they are loyal,” Hideaki raised a finger “They are a man’s best friend.”

“Certainly not a woman’s,” Kohaku flicked his long hair behind his shoulder with a huff.

“Oh, look,” Yuri said as he looked up and saw petal blowing in the wind outside “The petals are so pretty.”

“I’m going to have to clean that up tomorrow,” Aoba sighed as he lowered his headphones and glared at the petals.

“I would help but, you know, work,” Ichigo shrugged dismissively as he flicked through his script.

“Riku, there you are!”

“Shit!” Riku sat up as Toshiyuki walked in, teacher glasses and teacher expression on.

“Maths homework.”

“No, don’t make me do it!” Riku shouted as he hopped over the sofa and began running off.

“Riku!” Toshiyuki chased after him “If you want to get into Meiji, you need good grades!”

“I changed my mind, I don’t want to go to Meiji!”

“Then what are you going to do after school, you need to decide early so you can prepare!”

“Leave me alone!”

“I wonder what our new big sister is going to be like,” Yuuki murmured as he sipped his milk.

“We have plenty of big sisters, there’s no need to get so excited about this one,” Kenichi chuckled as he got off his phone.

“But they’re all around the world,” Yuuki pouted as he waved his arms around, spilling his milk “Germany, Austria, America, China, we never see them!”

“I wonder how long wife number seven is going to last,” Sora chuckled as he tossed his empty pocky box into the trashcan.


	2. Chapter 2

Sachiko landed on the branch of one of the tall, strong trees that stood guard over the entrance of where her future stepbrothers lived.  She counted the levels, examined the windows and found that it was a small apartment building that had been converted into a massive house.  Like a university residence of sorts for students.  A nice communal garden with blooming flowers and petals scattered around the stone pathways that would navigate people to the three different entrances available from the gate by the main entrance. 

Sachiko shifted to a different branch to duck out of view as young man with blue hair put into bunches, probably a university student judging from his size and juvenile clothing, walked out with a rake and plastic bag and began clearing the petals up.  She eyed the building thoughtfully, roughly judging the sizes of the window ledges before climbing further up the tree and launching herself at the building.  She slipped a little when she grabbed onto the first ledge but it didn’t deter her from scaling the building until she landed on the roof…or as it turned out a sheet that was hung out to dry.  She crashed and landed heavily with the sheet covering her once it got knocked off the drying line.  She hissed and sat up, thumbing the splinters in her fingertips.

“Hello?”

Sachiko looked up, the sheet blowing off her head as she saw a tall man with short blonde hair frozen in place with some washing in his hands, probably in his late twenties or early thirties, staring at her with alarmed, blue eyes.  She stared back at him and spotted a door open behind him before grabbing the sheet and getting up, not losing eye contact with the man in front of her.  He offered a friendly, slightly awkward smile as he finished pinning up the sheet in front of him.

“Can I help you?”

Sachiko ran up towards him, startling him as she jumped to grab his shoulder, use his shoulder for leverage to leap over him and blind him with the sheet.  She landed behind him as he stumbled around in confusion and shot through the door.  She glanced down the staircase, hesitating as she saw a boy with dark brown hair make his way up with a basket of laundry.  She gripped the railing, narrowing her eyes to make a quick judgement of how far down the stairs went before vaulting herself over and plummeting down.  Her purple eyes met with the boy’s green ones and there was a split second where time seemed to freeze as they recognized each other.

“S-Sakurai?!” Riku stuttered as he nearly dropped his basket of laundry.

“Murakami,” Sachiko nodded as she continued falling.

Murakami, Sachiko didn’t realise that this would be the same Murakami family that Riku would be in.  She landed, falling to one knee when she realised it the drop had been further than she had anticipated.  Riku looked over the railing with his mouth opening and closing before he could form words.

“Wh-What the hell are you doing here?!” he exclaimed “Why are you here?!”

Sachiko stood and looked up at him with a shrug.

“Scouting,” she said “See ya.”

“Wait!”

Sachiko took off down the corridor and slipped into the lift before the doors shut.  She paused to take a breath, holding up her hands to examine her splinters and try to squeeze them out.  One by one, they eventually popped out and landed in between her feet when the lift began going down.  Sighing, she tugged at her gloves and prepared a running sprint to dash out the moment the doors open.

“So I said to her, you can mi-whoa!”

She shot past two figures that awaited the lift, apparently one of them was holding a jug of something because it sloshed as she went by.

“This is a new shirt!”

“Hey, stop!”

Sachiko zoomed up the spiral stairs and paused when she found a railing and nearly toppled over into what looked like a cosy living room.  A little boy and a man in his late twenties seemed to be doing work of some kind as they lifted their heads to look at her.

“Can we help you?” the older man asked as Sachiko scoured the area carefully, sucking in her cheek.

“Toshi, why is there a homeless person in our house?” the little boy asked and Sachiko glared down at him.

“Oi, I have a home,” she said before pulling away and running down the corridor.

“Hey, stop!” a young boy with juice spilt down his shirt blocked her path and she quickly turned to the next room…which happened to have someone in the bath.

“Oi!” the man in the bath sat up and looked at her “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t mind me,” Sachiko muttered as she locked the door then crossed over towards the balcony.

She paused by the mirror and leaned over the sink to check her appearance.

“Tch, brat,” she muttered as the handle rattled and she pulled a twig out “So my hair looks a bit scruffy after some parkour, doesn’t make me a homeless person.”

She continued out the balcony and jumped over the ledge.  She fell to the next storey where she grabbed onto the ledge and peered over.  She was met with curious red eyes and she tensed before frowning.

“I thought there were only males in this residence,” she said as the woman by the table of papers simpered.

“I am a man,” he said “Can I help you?”

“Nah, just scouting, don’t mind me.”

“If I may,” the man reached out to stop her from dropping again “are you going to be my new sister by any chance?”

“Why would you guess that?” Sachiko asked suspiciously.

“What other girl would do some scouting around our home?”

“Someone who loves parkour and ended up using this place for her route?”

The transvestite laughed and offered a bowl of sweets.

“Here, pick the green ones, they have soft caramel in so you won’t choke when you’re doing your parkour.”

Sachiko glared at the bowl suspiciously before snatching a handful of sweets and stuffing them in one of her pouches on her utility belt.  The man laughed and she raised her eyebrows in surprise, expecting scolding more than a laugh.

“My name is Murakami Kohaku,” he introduced himself.

“…”

Sachiko watched him smile and take a pink sweet to unwrap and eat.

“If you want, you can use a fake name,” he said as he picked up his pen and began scribbling on his pad of paper.

“…Ludivine.”

“Ah, German, wonderful,” Kohaku smiled at her “Mm, you’re not allergic to anything are you?”

Sachiko shook her head and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“The pink ones have nuts you see,” he explained.

Sachiko remained silent as she watched him take another sweet whilst writing.

“So, who have you met so far?” he asked.

“…”

“Oh, do you not know their names yet?” Kohaku tilted his head.

“Riku, I only know Riku,” Sachiko answered.

“Oh yes, you look like you must be in his year, same class perhaps?”

Sachiko nodded and Kohaku sighed.

“He would tell us stories of the mysterious girl that came into the classroom through the window rather than the door,” he chuckled “I know your real name but I’ll keep calling you Ludivine if you wish.”

Sachiko shifted and hummed.

“Oi, what are you doing up there?!”

Sachiko turned to look down at the young man raking up the petals and Kohaku leaned over, waving to him.

“Aoba!” he called “How’s the work?”

“Fine, just fine, but what’s she doing up there?” Aoba asked as he pointed a rake at Sachiko.

“Just scouting, mind your own business,” Sachiko snarled and Kohaku simpered.

“Now, now, Ludivine, that’s not how we talk to people older than us,” he said patiently.

“You’re going to be annoying,” Sachiko sighed as she lowered herself down.

“I hope the day where I can call you Sachi will come soon,” Kohaku said as she hesitated before shrugging and falling.

“Wh-whoa!”

Sachiko heard Aoba drop the rake as she caught onto the rail of the balcony below Kohaku’s and looked down to see that he was under her, arms out, ready and waiting to catch her.  She shrugged and hoisted herself up to see the balcony was empty and jumped to land on it.  She opened the glass door and wandered in, pausing as she saw the piles of books which took up most of the bedroom.  She carefully navigated her way around the columns of paper, leather and cardboard.  A moan from her left made her turn sharply and one pile of books fell on top of the other.

“Shit!”

Sachiko zoomed across and plastered herself to the door as the books fell onto one another, making a loud clatter which woke the person who was in the bed.  Sachiko froze as he slowly looked around the room, blinked sleepily, yawned and went back to sleep.  Nodding, Sachiko slipped out of the room and let out a soft sigh.

“You Akira’s girlfriend or something?”

Sachiko bristled and turned to see a lanky young man with short black hair about to go into his room next to her, looking down at her with surprised amber eyes.  She shrugged before running down the corridor.

“O-Oi!”

She turned and skidded into what looked like a kitchen/dining room and crashed into the back of a tall man who was wandering around with his laptop, earphones plugged in.   He stumbled and his earphones were yanked out of the audio port, loud audio blaring out which made Sachiko blush.

“You watching porn or something?” she asked as the man hastily pressed the mute key.

He turned, glasses fallen slightly down his nose, looking down at her with a panicked look.

“Wh-Who are you?” he asked.

“What the fuck are you watching?” Sachiko replied with a disturbed look.

“I-I asked you first!”

“Technically I asked first,” Sachiko said slowly as she backed up “Are you a Murakami too?”

“Uh, I, uh, well…”

His face was like a tomato as Sachiko recovered from her initial blush, backing slowly away and into the dining table.  They stared at each other, Sachiko rather troubled and the man rather flustered.  The tension was interrupted as the man shook his head.

“What are you doing here?  You someone’s girlfriend?”

Sachiko slid over the dining table and ran towards the balcony, slipping through the glass door and landing on the ledge but slipped and fell down.  Luckily there was someone who was walking by in the street to land on.

“Oof!” he grunted as she landed on his shoulders, making him fall over forwards and she fell back onto his back “Ayumi, if this is you again…”

Sachiko jumped to her feet and took off down the street, jumping and grabbing onto a branch to swing herself up onto the roof of the building next door.  She sighed as she brushed herself down and took a sweet, unwrapping and popping it into her mouth, humming when she tasted caramel and chocolate.

“I’m still not happy with this,” she concluded before jumping off to go home.

 

* * *

 

“Why was there a hobo running around the place and barging into the bathroom when I’m trying to relax?” Hideaki asked angrily as he wandered into the main sitting room in a towel.

“She’s not a hobo, she said she had a home,” Yuuki said with a bright, innocent smile.

“She took off before I had a chance to grab her,” Toshiyuki sighed as Sora came in, looking very grumpy.

“She ruined my new shirt!” he grumbled as he threw himself on the sofa with a pout “And I’m all out of pocky!”

“Her hair was something else, wasn’t it?” Tsubasa hummed as he held a rough sketch of what he managed to see “I swear I saw it tied around her waist in a plat.”

“Oh, I just thought that was a belt,” Toshiyuki said with a raised eyebrow as he took a closer look “But then again it seemed like an odd place to have a belt.”

“No, she had a utility belt,” Aoba said as he came in and saw the sketch “She had pouches, I saw her take Kohaku’s sweets and put them in one of them.”

“Kohaku has sweets?!” Sora perked up to attention.

“Not for you,” Kohaku said sternly as he came in with ink marks on his fingers and a wad of papers “She was a charming young lady, wasn’t she?”

“Charming?” Kenichi snorted as he wandered in after having a quick shower “She swore, no girl is charming when she says the foul words I’ve heard her say.”

“Daiki, what happened?” Kohaku asked as Riku helped Daiki into the sitting room with a tissue over his nose.

“Urgh, a girl got me tangled up in a sheet and I fell,” Daiki replied in a nasal voice as Riku gave him another tissue to replace the bloodied one.

“Is she still around?” Riku asked as he looked around “She’s around about this tall with…”

“Got it,” Tsubasa said as he waved the sketch at Riku.

Riku sighed as he folded his arms whilst Daiki sat down.

“She’s from my class and I have no idea why…”

“You don’t?” Kohaku tilted his head “Why, she’s going to be our new sister.”

“What?!”

Kohaku simpered and tossed back his long blonde hair.

“Sakurai Sachiko, right?” he said to Riku who nodded “Well she’s a delight, a little rough around the edges, but a delight.  It’s too bad she’s bringing a dog.”

“A delight?” Sora echoed as he stood “That scamp ruined my new shirt!”

“Oh, it’ll wash out, Sora, stop complaining,” Tsubasa sighed as Ichigo wandered in, looking a bit battered “Hey, you look a mess.”

“Some girl landed right on top of me…” he grumbled and Kohaku’s smile widened.

“There, Ludivine has left and she’ll be back when she moves in.”

“Wait, I thought her name was Sachiko?” Toshiyuki frowned.

“It is but she presented herself as Ludivine to me and it’s a wonderful name and I will respect her wishes for me to call her that,” Kohaku said and scribbled something down on his paper “I must use it in my next novel.”

“Urgh!” Sora whined as he threw one of his tantrums “I don’t want that uncivilised creature as our sister!  I won’t accept it!  I won’t accept it at all!”

“What’s he complaining about now?” Yuri asked as he came in with the grocery shopping.

“We had a little…encounter with this girl,” Aoba shrugged “Kohaku’s convinced that she’s going to be our new sister.”

“My woman instincts have never been wrong,” Kohaku said with a proud sniff.

“You’re not a woman,” seven of the eleven brothers around him said.

Akira yawned as he wandered in sleepily.

“Mmm…did someone come in and knock down my books again?” he asked whilst rubbing his eyes then opened them to take in the scene “…What did I miss?”


	3. Chapter 3

Sachiko swallowed her noodles whilst staring outside at the rain sullenly.  Wolf ate his breakfast until the bowl was clean and he picked it up to dump it into one of the moving boxes.  Sachiko rinsed her bowl and chopsticks before packing them into the box next to her.

“Come on, Wolf,” she called as she sealed off the boxes “Quickly now before they come.”

Wolf followed her eagerly out of the apartment and Sachiko checked the box that had holes in it was in place before closing the door.

* * *

 

“It’s here!” Yuuki cheered and jumped up and down eagerly when the moving van appeared that afternoon.

“Indeed,” Daiki smiled as he turned away from his whiteboard of equations and diagrams to look out of the window “I’m sure our new sister will come shortly after.”

“Let’s go and help her move then,” Toshiyuki suggested as he looked up from his marking “She’s going to love her new room.  Perfect view of the garden, not too high up to get the full heat of the summer and right in the centre of the corridor so she isn’t too far from the elevator to have to carry her stuff for so long but not too close to be disturbed by it.”

“You’re just jealous, aren’t you?” Daiki snorted.

“Yes, very much so.”

“I’m going to have a new sister, a new sister, a new sister, yay!” Yuuki cheered as he ran out of the room to go downstairs.

“Oi, oi, wait,” Daiki sighed as he trailed after him “You can’t carry all the boxes by yourself.”

Toshiyuki smiled as he followed them down to help carry the boxes.

* * *

 

“Oh, you’re still unloading it?” Tsubasa hummed as he walked down the street with Yuri “I see, well I’m just on my way to lunch with Yuri, it’s my lunch break.  Yeah, I know, it’s rare to see him awake in the daylight.”

“You try working night shifts,” Yuri snarled softly as he pulled his older brother into his favourite restaurant.

Tsubasa smirked as he nodded once.

“Alright, I’ll start making dinner once I get home, OK?  Yes, Kenichi, I will make your favourite spaghetti bolognaise dish but I’ll need something else in case she doesn’t like Italian.  Right, right, don’t break your back now.  Bye.”

Yuri stuck his nose into one of the menus as he sucked on his lip piercing thoughtfully.

“You promised me quiche for tonight,” he grumbled and Tsubasa sighed as he hung up and put his phone away.

“Tomorrow night, alright?” he said placing a hand over his heart “I sincerely promise from the bottom of my heart.”

Yuri huffed and lay down the menu to point at the most expensive dish as if to spite him.

* * *

 

“Oh my, this one certainly is heavy,” Kohaku huffed as he and Hideaki carried a large rectangular box down the corridor “And has holes…”

“This isn’t the dog crate or anything, is it?” Hideaki raised his eyebrows as he looked down at the fragile sign imprinted on the top of the box.

A low growl came from the box which had the two males halting.  Kohaku had a mortified look as he glanced down at the size of the box.

“But this is huge!  What kind of dog does she have?!”

“Maybe we should have given her a room that was at a lower level,” Hideaki muttered.

“Oh, Ludivine,” Kohaku sighed softly “I hope this…mongrel is house-trained and everything.”

It may have been Hideaki’s imagination, but he swore he heard some sort of snort at that statement.  Kohaku seemed to have heard it too as he looked the box up and down with a curious look.  They continued carrying it and placed it down on her bed, sighing.

“I shouldn’t be subjected to this kind of manual labour,” Kohaku declared as he sat down beside the box, running a hand through his blonde locks.

“Hey, it’s the last heavy one at least,” Aoba huffed as he and Riku came up with their own boxes “Ichigo is just coming up with the last box.”

Riku placed his box down on the desk and his hand hovered over it thoughtfully.

“Riku, no,” Kohaku said sharply which drew the younger brother out of his daze “You shouldn’t look through a young woman’s things.”

“This is Sakurai Sachiko, not some young woman who would make a fuss if I look through her things,” Riku shrugged “I’ve been going to school with her for nearly two years and still can’t figure her out.”

“Oh no, you’ve already moved everything in,” Sora whined as he poked his head in and Ichigo came in with the last box after sending the moving van away “Why does she have to move into my corridor?  Why not the corridor downstairs?”

“Because I wanted her to be here,” Kohaku smiled as he laced his fingers together “We’re going to be very good friends if we’re next door neighbours.”

“And I don’t think she’d like being Riku’s neighbour,” Aoba chuckled to which Riku stuck his tongue out.

“I don’t know…”

Akira wandered in with a book in one arm and looked around meekly.

“If she’s going to be above me, it means her dog will make a racket when he sees a squirrel or something.”

The box growled.

“Relax, Akira, she’s not directly above you like this,” Kohaku shrugged.

“I don’t know, a dog that big?” Ichigo looked the box up and down “Might pack a powerful bark, bite and might even howl.”

Kohaku huffed as he looked at the keys to Sachiko’s room in his palm then leaned on the box.

“You shouldn’t prejudge,” he argued “I’m sure he can be quite frien-oops!”

The keys slid off his finger and into one of the holes of the box, making it growl and something shuffled inside.

“Kohaku!” Ichigo exclaimed as the author jumped to his feet.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry!” he exclaimed “Well, if he is dangerous anyhow, he still loves Ludivine, right?  So she can easily get it…”

“Her name is Sachiko,” Riku raised an eyebrow.

“She will tell me if she wants to be called someone other than Ludivine,” Kohaku sniffed snootily.

“Well, Tsubasa’s going to be back from work soon,” Aoba hummed as he checked his watch for the time “I want to get into the kitchen to grab some snacks before he completely invades it.”

“I’ll go with you, I need to find a place to hide my pocky,” Sora hummed as he followed after him.

“I need to study, see you at dinner,” Akira murmured as he left next.

“I’m taking a nap,” Ichigo yawned as he and Hideaki left.

Riku and Kohaku glanced at one another, waiting for the other to leave.

“I know you, you will not look through her belongings,” the older brother said sternly.

“I just want to get to know her better!” Riku protested.

“You go to school with her, you’re in the same class and you’re going to be her new stepbrother.  There have been plenty of times and there will be plenty of times for you to get to know her better.”

“You don’t understand,” Riku groaned as he sunk into the desk chair “Sakurai…she’s unapproachable.”

“Unapproachable?” Kohaku raised an eyebrow.

Riku looked out of the window slowly to mention the last time he had tried approaching Sachiko.

* * *

 

Riku’s heart was pounding.  Sachiko was not moving, this was his chance.  He took a deep breath, mustered up his courage and strode forward from the front of the classroom to approach her.

“Hey, Sakurai…”

Sachiko glanced up at him lazily, lowering her pencil from writing down notes.  Riku stammered a little to find the right words as her cold purple eyes examined him, like he was in an interview to get into the best university in Tokyo.

“W-Well, I hear you l-like um, well, ah, you see…”

“For fuck’s sake, spill,” Sachiko snapped as she sat back “I’m trying to do some goddamn work, stop wasting my time.”

Riku jumped at her violent tone and swallowed.

“Do you want to catch a movie sometime?”

“With you?  Of course not, go away.”

She focused down on her book and continued writing notes, leaving Riku scurrying back to his desk with a rapid heartbeat and flushed cheeks.

* * *

 

“Well if she was working then that wouldn’t have been a good time to ask,” Kohaku sighed “Is she like this with everyone?”

“There was this one time.”

* * *

 

“Oi, Sakurai!”

Riku turned to see Asahina Yuusuke catch up to Sachiko and bristled.  He wasn’t too bad in the looks department, did Sachiko have a thing for him?  She wasn’t showing any signs of sending him packing yet…

“You’re smart, right?” he said with a shrug as Sachiko began to glare at him “Could you help me with the homework?”

“No,” Sachiko sneered “Go ask Hinata.”

“Wait, what?”

“She is much smarter than me and I hear she wants to get into Meiji.  She’d be happy to help you.”

“But, I…”

Sachiko smirked and folded her arms.

“Or are you just not man enough for the task?”

“Eh?”

Sachiko crouched down and leapt up, grabbing onto the branch of the tree above her.

“I respect where your heart is at,” she said as she swayed back and forth like a monkey “But really, coming to me for help in work?”

“I just thought you were smart because you’re always working so hard!”

“Because I have a goal I’m working towards and I have plenty of motivation,” Sachiko smirked “Doesn’t mean I’m smart, dumbass.”

She stuck her tongue out whilst pulling the bottom lid of her eye down.

“Idiot Asahina,” she chimed as students began to look round at them “If you want to grab the apple at the top of the tree, you climb up to get it.  Not grab a rotten one to throw and knock it off.”

“O-Oi!”

Sachiko swung round the branch and landed on it with a smirk.

“If you’re too lazy to climb, aim lower,” she said before turning and jumping onto a low roof to parkour her way home.

Riku ran out of the gates to try and catch up, only to lose sight of her.

 

* * *

 

“Good quote, I must use that,” Kohaku said as he took out his pen and notepad.

“So what do I do?” Riku shrugged.

“Don’t look through her things,” Kohaku said “Aw, it’s awful to call yourself a rotten apple, she’s such a lovely girl as well.”

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, yes, woe is you, you can’t approach Ludivine because she’s a little bit intimidating, now get out of her room.”

Riku grumbled as he was ushered out of the room and Kohaku lingered as he disappeared.

“Ludivine, darling,” he said over his shoulder “I will come back at around half seven.  We will be having Italian for dinner so don’t eat just before then.  Tsubasa gets easily insulted if his food goes uneaten.”

He turned around fully and folded his arms.

“And you’re not a rotten apple, don’t put yourself down like that,” he scolded “You are a lovely girl who is a little rough on the outside.  I know Riku can be a bit awkward but he’s really a lovely young man.  So remember, be ready to receive at half seven because I have a feeling you’re not going to be dressed and cleaned by eight so I will help you groom yourself for dinner then.  Tootles and I’m right next door if you need anything, OK, sweet pea?  Alright then, ta.”

He closed the door and silence filled the room for a few moments.  It was then interrupted when one side of the box flew across the room and hit the wardrobe.  A Canadian Timber Wolf wriggled its way out of the box and shook its beautiful fur out as his owner’s boots appeared on the bed and a sigh was heard.

“He’s annoying,” Sachiko confirmed with a soft snarl.


	4. Chapter 4

Sachiko had a piece of strawberry flavoured pocky wedged in between her teeth as she mashed the buttons on the controller, glaring at the screen angrily as she ripped apart her victims in the game _Revulsion_ , a highly controversial game because of its violence and she had managed to grab a copy before it was banned.  The game store clerk didn’t even glance at her or challenge her for her age.  It was a piece of cake and Sachiko was pretty close to completing this level.  Wolf lay his head on her lap whilst snoozing as she finished the level and let out a soft breath.  She chuckled to herself when blood splattered on the screen and numbers began running and adding up her score.

“Four and a half stars?!” she hissed angrily when her final score came up and her pocky snapped in half when she spoke “What did I miss?!  Urgh, fuck this.”

“Ludivine?”

Wolf barked insistently as Kohaku knocked on her door and Sachiko chewed and swallowed her pocky stick.

“May I come in?  It’s half past seven.”

Sachiko glanced at her clock which was in roman numerals and huffed.  Wolf growled as she got up, grabbed her keys and walked over, unlocking the door.  Wolf snarled and barked more as he ran towards Kohaku but Sachiko grabbed him by the scruff and he yelped when he was pulled back.  Kohaku stepped back in alarm as Sachiko pushed Wolf into a lying down positon.

“Wolf, stay,” she commanded and Wolf whined “He’s clear.”

“Ludivine, please tell me that is a hybrid,” Kohaku said slowly as he pointed at Wolf who snarled louder.

Sachiko glared up at him and ushered Wolf to lie down in his bed.  Kohaku wandered in slowly, looking around at the customised room and smiled.

“It’s wonderful to see you’ve unpacked fully,” he said “Nothing better than a bedroom to show off your personality.”

“Hn, arguments with her can be stressful so I might as well live here until I can afford enough to live by myself,” Sachiko huffed as she fed Wolf a treat.

“So…his name is Wolf, is it?” Kohaku said slowly as Wolf eyed him warily “A bit…um…well, it’s lovely.”

“His full name is Wolfgang but Wolf is better to use when training and calling him,” Sachiko shrugged.

Kohaku hummed and nodded before looking Sachiko up and down.  Sachiko raised an eyebrow and huffed when he picked up the hairbrush on the desk.

“My, what a gothic taste,” he commented whilst examining the silver spikes and skull.

“Judge me how you like, I don’t care,” Sachiko sneered and sighed when Kohaku brought a chair out for her to sit “I’m sorry but there are only two people who are allowed to touch my hair and you’re not one of them.”

“Oh, pity,” Kohaku pouted and handed her the hairbrush and watched her take her ponytail out and began brushing it “Maybe using a bunch of hairbands to hold your ponytail in place would be a good idea for that outfit.”

“Noted,” Sachiko grumbled as Kohaku wandered around thoughtfully.

“Isn’t that game rated eighteen?” he asked when he spotted the TV screen.

“Relax, I’ve got a year,” Sachiko rolled her eyes “Huh…one year.”

She snorted and grabbed her box of hairbands to put in her ponytail.  Kohaku watched as she wrapped around her waist, using clips to attach the hairbands to the waistband of her trousers.  She turned to him and folded her arms.

“There,” she said “Let’s get this over with.”

“Well we do have another twenty minutes, let’s chat,” Kohaku smiled warmly.

Sachiko narrowed her eyes and the author sighed.

“So, my name is Murakami Kohaku and I am an author,” he said “I am the seventh son to my father, second child to my mother who lives in the Caribbean Islands with her husband and children.  I was born out of wedlock and sent to my father shortly after I was born.”

“So he still strayed to different women,” Sachiko grumbled and glared at the wall.

“Oh, there’s no need to worry,” Kohaku smiled “I’m sure he will…”

He then met Sachiko’s venomous glare.

“Actually, point taken, I’m not entirely proud of him myself,” he coughed “So, Ludi, may I call you that?  Alright, Ludi, tell me a couple of things about yourself.”

Sachiko sneered and folded her arms.

“Four years ago, there was that incident at the zoo where several animals got out,” she said “They managed to get them all but I found Wolf in an alleyway and I rescued him, took him home and fed him.”

“You didn’t give him back to the zoo?” Kohaku shot a look at Wolf who growled.

“Do you have any idea how adorable wolves are when they’re puppies?” Sachiko asked bluntly and Kohaku simpered “You’d better not tell anyone I said that.”

“Ludi, there is no shame in being attracted to baby things, it’s normal,” Kohaku smiled “You act all tough and mighty but you’re really just a softie.”

Sachiko bared her teeth at him and so did Wolf.  Kohaku raised his hands with a coy smile.

“Alright then, something else,” he hummed “Ah, I’ve been writing for ten years now and I’ve been a professional writer for three of those years.  What kind of career are you thinking of going into?”

Sachiko shrugged.

“I want to get into the Fukuoka Design Communication College,” she said “Enough said, I’ll figure out something from there on.”

“Oh, how wonderful, it’s good to know that you have an idea of what you want to do in the future.”

Sachiko shrugged again and looked away with folded arms.  Kohaku sighed softly and got up.

“Right, it looks like you’re about to clam up so why don’t we pop down early?” he smiled and offered his arm “Shall we?”

“Shall we?  What am I, some princess?”

Kohaku simpered as Sachiko walked across the room and opened the door.

“Stay,” she ordered Wolf and he complied, his ears lowered as he watched the door close.

 

* * *

 

“Yuuki, breathe,” Daiki chuckled as the younger son fidgeted with a serious face in his place.

“I have to be on my best behaviour,” Yuuki stated as Sora huffed impatiently.

“What’s taking so long?” he whined as Riku glanced at the doorway every five seconds.

“Gentlemen.”

Everyone turned and straightened up as Kohaku appeared in the doorway.

“Now remember, you must be quiet and don’t alarm her,” he said “Avoid eye contact and if she growls at you, it means you’re safe.  If she’s deadly silent, you should probably leave and walk in a zig zag to confuse her so she doesn’t hurt you.”

“There is no need to treat her like an animal,” Yuri began but was cut off by a low growl next to his older brother “No eye contact, be quiet and leave when she goes deadly silent, got it.”

Kohaku smiled and stepped to the side.  Everyone craned their head as Sachiko stepped into view, glaring at the floor and blushing when twelve pairs of eyes landed on her.  She coughed when Kohaku patted her on the back gently and she stepped into the dining room.

“My name is Sakurai Sachiko and I am going to be your new stepsister,” she mumbled.

“Big sister!”

“Yuuki!”

Sachiko felt a puff of air shoot out of her as Yuuki launched himself onto her and gave her a massive hug, sending her flying back into the corridor.

“I thought he said he was going to be on his best behaviour,” Toshiyuki huffed as Sachiko pressed a hand on Yuuki’s head and pushed him away with a fierce glare.

“Don’t do that again,” she growled as Yuuki’s hands flailed around, trying to hug her.

“You can walk me to school, walk me home, take me to piano lessons, take me to swimming lessons, take me to kendo club…”

“How about I feed you to Wolf?” Sachiko growled louder.

“Ludi, be nice,” Kohaku waved his finger at her.

“Kendo club and piano lessons?  Seriously?” Sachiko sent him a look.

“Sorry, Sachiko,” Daiki chuckled as he picked Yuuki up “He’s just excited.  My name is Daiki, I’m a theoretical physicist studying dark matter.”

Sachiko brushed herself down and looked at the hand that was offered to her.  She glanced at Riku who had a light blush, shaking softly as he stared down at her.  With a soft sigh, she stood up without taking his hand and looked him in the eye.

“Hey, remember what your brother told you?” she smirked “Avoid eye contact.”

She went deadly silent afterwards and Riku retreated to his seat.

“Ludi!”

Sachiko chuckled and shrugged.

“What?  It’s fun tormenting people.”

She strode into the dining room with Kohaku behind her and took her seat next to him and opposite Aoba.  Aoba smiled politely.

“My name is Aoba,” he said as Kohaku helped himself to some food “I’m studying horticulture.  What are you thinking of going into?”

“Dunno,” Sachiko toned dully as she helped herself to some spaghetti “Suppose it’s a tie between voice acting or game design.”

“Mm, I’m a game designer actually,” Kenichi said from next to Aoba.

“You’re the guy that was watching something which included a woman screaming out in pleasure,” Sachiko narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

Kenichi choked as Aoba and Kohaku shot him alarmed looks.

“His curious videos aside…” Ichigo coughed as Tsubasa thumped him on the back “Um, as a radio presenter, I could help you with your voice acting.”

“No, you might be able to get some jobs with minor animes but you won’t be able to get a steady income like that,” Kenichi cleared his throat “I can get you a job in my company or at least give you a recommendation if you go down game design.”

Sachiko looked between them after pouring out a glass of water and frowned.

“I say one little thing and suddenly they’re battling over my future,” she grumbled to Kohaku who simpered.

“Don’t take it personally, Kenichi just thinks more girls should be encouraged to pursue game designing and Ichigo just wants more material for his radio shows.”

“So which university are you thinking of going to?” Riku asked from next to Kohaku.

“You know, I just want to eat right now, I’ve spoken too much,” Sachiko murmured before having a forkful of spaghetti.

“Riku here is thinking of getting into Meiji,” Toshiyuki said as he pointed to Riku with a fork and a smile.

“I’m undecided,” Riku said over Sachiko’s snort and giggles, making her choke and cough.

“Ludi, are you alright?” Kohaku placed a hand on Sachiko’s back as she struggled to clear her throat.

“You and Meiji?” she squeaked as she glanced at Riku.

“Well, I’m still undecided about what I want to do or where I want to go,” Riku murmured as Sachiko managed to clear her airways and sighed.

“Ludi, if I may, I just want to try something by mentioning your prospective college,” Kohaku murmured and Sachiko raised an eyebrow but nodded “Well, actually, Ludi here is thinking about going to Fukuoka Design Communication College.”

Riku straightened up and Kohaku smiled at the glint in his eye. 

“Great college, I went there!” Kenichi exclaimed as he pointed his fork at Sachiko who growled at it.

“Hang on, is that really what you want, Sachi?” Ichigo frowned.

“Oi!” Sachiko snarled whilst pointing at him “Only one person has the privilege of using that nickname for me and it certainly isn’t you, buddy.”

Kohaku patted her shoulder soothingly as Ichigo raised an eyebrow and turned back to his food.

“So if you’re interested in game design you must love video games,” Kenichi smiled “Which ones do you like?”

“Current favourite?  _Revulsion._ ”

Aoba and Kenichi stared at her with alarmed looks.

“That’s the latest game that’s been banned…” Aoba murmured.

“Yes, it’s very violent and the story line is dark…” Kenichi stared at her with wide eyes “How old are you?”

“Turned seventeen last week,” Sachiko shrugged then smirked “I’ve just finished the level through Alamogordo in New Mexico.”

“But that-!” Aoba choked and placed his utensils down.

Kenichi shuddered as he placed his utensils down as well and covered his mouth.  Everyone else shot confused looks as Sachiko slowly ate the spaghetti with a devious glint in her eyes.

“Dare I ask?” Kohaku whispered.

“Think about it this way,” Sachiko purred “Where did they test the atomic bombs?”

Kohaku’s eyes widened and said no more.


	5. Chapter 5

“Ludi, spring break is nearly over, would you like to go shopping for school supplies tomorrow?”

Sachiko glanced at Kohaku as he dropped her off at her room after dinner. She raised an eyebrow.

“I got the things I need,” she said.

“Well we can go out for lunch then,” he smiled “We can take…Wolf out for a walk.”

“You expressed your distaste towards dogs at dinner, why would you want to take him for a walk?”

“If it means I get the chance to get to know you a little better, I can endure a few hours with Wolf,” Kohaku just smiled painfully.

“Wow, you really do want me to bond with you,” Sachiko raised both eyebrows and snorted “Right…”

“So how about it?” Kohaku smiled expectantly “It’ll be fun being just the two of us, we can be two sisters having a nice day out!”

“You’re a man,” Sachiko blinked indifferently.

“I’m your new sister,” Kohaku said with a slight twitch of his eye.

“You’re a man, therefore my stepbrother,” Sachiko argued.

“I’m a woman, therefore your sister.”

“You may dress in women’s clothes but it still doesn’t change the fact that you’re a man down there.”

“You may lack the bosom of a woman but it still doesn’t change the fact that you’re my sister.”

“Oi!” Sachiko barked “I just started filling out this year!”

Kohaku simpered and winked.

“Shall we say nine?” he offered and Sachiko opened her bedroom door to be pounced on by Wolf “It’s going to be so much fun.”

“Hn, this is going to mean I’ll have to walk on foot,” Sachiko huffed as she tickled Wolf’s ears “But you’ll be happy, won’t you? Just don’t attack little girls like the last time.”

Wolf whined and Kohaku stared down at them in horror.

“Excuse me?” he demanded.

“Oh, a little girl bumped into me and he saw it as an attack,” Sachiko said dismissively as she got up and Wolf returned into the room “He never harmed her, just scared her when he began chasing after her.”

“Oh my,” Kohaku commented softly.

“Well, goodnight, I suppose,” Sachiko grumbled as she folded her arms “I’m still going to play _Revulsion_ so I might wake up at nine…”

“No, you will have to get up earlier so you can have breakfast,” Kohaku said sternly and Sachiko glared at him.

“I will be playing _Revulsion_ , I will wake up and see you at nine,” Sachiko said a little slower with a firm tone.

“You will be doing no such thing,” Kohaku said with folded arms “I will wake you up at half past seven, you will get dressed, washed then have breakfast before meeting me at nine o’clock sharp.”

“I will have breakfast at quarter to nine,” Sachiko narrowed her eyes.

“Eight o’clock.”

“Twenty to nine.”

“Half past eight at the latest, Ludi, or I will come in and confiscate your games for a week.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Sachiko sneered as Wolf snarled.

“Ludi,” Kohaku put on his motherly voice and began tapping his foot.

Sachiko stared at him venomously, suddenly remembering the days when her mother was working in Japan.  Her eyebrow twitched before she threw her hands up in the air.

“Fine!” she said “I’ll have breakfast at half past eight!”

“Wonderful,” Kohaku said with a bright smile “Make sure to be in bed by midnight.”

“What the fuck?!”

“Ludi, language,” Kohaku said as the smile faded “Bed by midnight, so if I am still hearing the sounds of people being slaughtered by then, I’m confiscating your games.”

Sachiko snarled and glared at him before storming into her room and slamming the door.  Kohaku smiled a little bit before going into his room.

* * *

 

“Ludi!”

Sachiko groaned as she woke up in her bed with Wolf on top of her.  The canine growled in annoyance as she lifted her head up, brushing some stray hair out of her face.

“What the fuck?” she grumbled as she slowly took in her new bedroom.

“Ludi!”

There was a sharp knock on her door.

“It’s five to eight!  Be sure to be up and ready for breakfast!”

Sachiko face-planted her pillow again as Wolf began barking.

“I’ll be down in a minute!” she called wearily.

She curled her legs in with an incoherent mumble and began to doze off.

* * *

 

The knocking came back with a fierce vengeance.

“LUDI!”

“I’m coming!” Sachiko yelled as she rolled off her bed and began running around her room.

Her hair was still damp from being washed last night so she grabbed her brush and began brushing through it aggressively.  She glanced at her clock and saw that it was twenty-five minutes past eight, she had five minute before she was supposed to be in the kitchen for breakfast.  Quickly and a little clumsily, she dumped dog biscuits into Wolf’s bowl, get changed into a top and jeans, put a hairband in her hair to make a ponytail then wrapped it around her body before jumping out to her balcony.  She launched herself onto the balcony next door and then onto the next window ledge.  She lifted her body up and confirmed that she was at the kitchen and knocked sharply.

* * *

 

Riku jumped as someone knocked on the window and he looked over with a curious frown.  Had he just imagined that?  He shrugged as he dried his hands after finishing washing up his breakfast things.  He then heard more knocking, a bit more frantic than last time and he turned in time to see a fingerless gloved hand retreat.  He rushed over and threw the window up, staring down at Sachiko with wide, alarmed eyes.

“S-S-S-S-Sakurai?!” he exclaimed at her frustrated look.

“Can it not open any further?” she asked and Riku just stared “Oi!  Murakami!  I said, can it not open any further?!”

“C-Can what not open any f-further?” Riku stumbled and Sachiko sighed.

“The fucking window, genius!”

Riku jumped at her sharp bark and he shook his head.  The young girl sighed again, rolling her eyes.

“Guess you’re gonna have to help me in then,” she said as she held her hand out to him.

Riku stared at her offered hand blankly with a light blush.

“Uh…” he murmured and Sachiko let out a sharp exhale.

“It’s my hand,” she said in a patronizing tone “It’s here for you to take hold of so you can help me up into the kitchen.”

She shook it out and Riku swallowed down sharply before nodding.

“R-Right…”

He will be holding onto her hand.  It was alright, he could do this!  He was only helping her into the kitchen.  He reached out and wrapped his hand around hers.  His heart leapt as he felt her rough fingertips against his skin and his lips parted for a moment.

“Uh, Murakami?”

“Y-Yes, Sakurai?”

“HELP ME UP INTO THE KITCHEN!”

“Right!” Riku jumped again as he began pulling her up but his hand was sweaty and he wasn’t as strong as he thought so Sachiko’s hand slipped out of his grip.

“Shit!”

Sachiko slipped a little bit but kept her grip on the window ledge. 

“I’m sorry!” Riku shouted as he wiped his hand on his shirt before grabbing Sachiko’s hand again.

He took a deep breath before straining to help Sachiko into the kitchen.  Her foot was on the ledge next as their eyes met and Riku’s breath hitched.  They were spell-binding, enchanting, it was pretty much the only thing that told everyone that Sachiko was beautiful.  She may have a rough attitude but looking into her eyes exposes her true soul of beauty, perseverance and…and…and Riku didn’t see them anymore.

“Fucking hell!”

Riku jumped again as he realised Sachiko’s hand wasn’t in his anymore and only one hand was gripping the window ledge.

“I’m sorry!” he shouted again as Sachiko’s eyes peered up at him again.

“What the actual fuck?!” she spat at him “Are you trying to kill me?!”

“I’m sorry, so sorry!” Riku blurted out as he bowed his head to her furiously.

“What’s going on?”

Riku turned to see Kohaku with two plates of sausages and baked beans.

“Oi, Kohaku!” Sachiko yelled from her place.

“Ludi?!”

Kohaku sighed as he placed the plates down and walked over.

“Ludi, there is something called a door you know,” he said as he leaned over to take hold of Sachiko’s hand then pull her into the kitchen.

“Oh shut up,” Sachiko sneered as she folded her arms.

Kohaku sighed, shaking his head before closing the window and ushering her to the table.

“Oh and your hair is a mess,” he fussed.

“I know, I’ll brush it later.”

“Should I let Wolf out into the garden?”

“You could try, I might need to come with you.”

“Is that really what you want to wear to go out?”

“Um, I’ve got this cute bandana that goes with this outfit?”

“Oh really?”

“…Yeah.”

“Very well then.”

Riku could imagine himself literally fading into the background as well as metaphorically.  So without a sound, he shuffled out of the kitchen.

* * *

 

Kohaku watched Sachiko and Wolf run around the garden after breakfast so Wolf could do his business.  Sachiko then looked a bit disheartened as she pulled out a muzzle and Wolf began snarling.

“I know, boy,” she sighed “But it’s necessary.”

Wolf flattened himself to the grass, baring his teeth at her.

“You know what happened at the hairdressers last time,” Sachiko sighed as she placed her hands on her hips “I only want to ask Louis to style my hair, not to ask if his brother is willing to help me in a court case if you bite someone again.”

Wolf whined and Sachiko squared her chest.

“Fine, you’re not coming with us then.”

Wolf whined again as he sat up and let Sachiko put on his muzzle.  Kohaku approached them as Sachiko fixed a collar and leash to him.

“He doesn’t look happy,” he commented.

“Would you?” Sachiko sighed “It’s only because it’ll be busy today, normally when there are less crowds I let him loose but seeing as it’s the weekend with lots of children running about, I just can’t take that risk anymore.”

Kohaku gave a sympathetic smile before noticing a dark mark on Sachiko’s neck.  He reached over to pull the collar of her top down a bit and she slapped his hand away.

“What?” she frowned up at him.

“Oh, you have something on your neck,” Kohaku said as he gestured to his own and Sachiko sighed.

“Yeah, I forgot to cover that up,” she grumbled “It’s my birthmark.  Hideous, isn’t it?”

“On the contrary,” Kohaku smiled “It’s part of who you are, Ludi, so it isn’t hideous at all.”

Sachiko hesitated, probably unsure on how to respond before gripping Wolf’s leash tighter and stuffing her free hand in her pocket.

“Let’s go,” she mumbled and followed Kohaku out into the streets.

They mainly walked around the shopping area, needing to tie Wolf to something if they had to go to any shops.  Sachiko seemed disinterested in most of the clothes shops, unless the material was black, so they mainly went to video game shops where she went straight to the mature section.  Kohaku didn’t need to accompany her to the till apparently, the clerks didn’t even challenge her for id.  He did look through her choice of games though, much to her annoyance.

“Ludi, I don’t know if you should play these games,” he said as he looked through the content labels.

“I know what I should be expecting from them,” Sachiko scowled as she snatched the bag back “I won’t be playing them too loud if you’re worried about that.”

“Ludi, they are extremely violent,” Kohaku twisted his lips.

“I’m not a baby,” Sachiko rolled her eyes “I’ve been stomaching this since I was twelve.”

“Excuse me?!” Kohaku exclaimed and Sachiko huffed.

“It was an accident with the games, they got mixed up and I played the wrong one by mistake,” she said with a shrug “Sure it was horrifying to play at the time but the intro was hella funny!”

She began giggling much to Kohaku’s distaste.

“And since then I’ve just been playing that series,” she sighed softly “There’s nothing more satisfying than blowing someone’s brains out after a stressful day at school.”

Kohaku wrinkled his nose before tugging her and Wolf over to the café nearby for coffee.  Sachiko eagerly looked through the description leaflets of the games whilst Wolf lay under the table and Kohaku began writing notes in his book.  He kept on looking up at her face which was getting more and more excited with each line she read.

“You don’t apply these violent tendencies in real life do you?” he asked and Sachiko sighed.

“Of course not,” she said “I’m not some homicidal maniac you know.”

“Ok, ok, just wondering,” Kohaku murmured as he continued writing.

“Kohaku?”

Kohaku lifted his head and Sachiko glanced over at the newcomer.

“Oh!” he exclaimed as he stood with a grin “Hikaru!”

“It’s been a while!” a woman went over and they hugged each other “How’s your writing?”

“Stagnant,” Kohaku sighed “But my new little sister is helping me with inspiration!”

“I am?” Sachiko lifted her head up fully to look at them with a frown.

“Oh, you got a new sister?” Hikaru cooed as she leaned over to get a better look at her face “Ah, how cute!”

“Don’t call me cute,” Sachiko scowled as Wolf growled.

“I got a new sister too, I still haven’t met her,” Hikaru sighed “I heard she’s adorable though!”

“Ludi, this is Asahina Hikaru, a novelist like myself,” Kohaku introduced “We’ve been friends for three years now?”

“I believe so,” Hikaru nodded and Sachiko frowned.

“Asahina?” she repeated and looked at Hikaru again “Related to Asahina Louis?”

“Yes, Louis is my brother,” Hikaru nodded.

“Louis said he only has brothers, taking away your new sister presumably,” Sachiko said slowly as she looked between Hikaru and Kohaku warily “You seem to be a woman…”

Both writers began laughing and something in Sachiko’s brain clicked.

“You’re a transvestite as well?!” she exclaimed rather loudly and they laughed harder “What the fuck?!”

“Ludi!” Kohaku said in a scolding tone between his laughs.

“Do all male writers cross dress?!”

“Just us,” Hikaru smiled politely “Although, I tend to switch between male and female clothes, whereas Kohaku here only has eyes for feminine clothes.  Can I just ask about this top?”

“Oh, do you like it?” Kohaku asked as he twirled around “I thought I’d wear blue instead of red for a change.”

“It is fabulous, the fabric, the colour, where might I get one?”

“I got it online…”

Sachiko managed to focus back to her games, slightly disturbed.

* * *

 

Wolf ran around the step-siblings happily in the park that they were walking through after their brief lunch in the café.

“He is majestic,” Kohaku murmured as he scribbled notes down.

“You seem conflicted about whether you like Wolf or not,” Sachiko snorted.

“I’m more of a cat person,” Kohaku shrugged “But Wolf is beautiful, I won’t deny that.”

Sachiko sat on the park bench when they reached there and watched as Wolf began chasing the squirrels up the trees.  Kohaku sat next to her, writing and watching Wolf whenever he had to pause and think.

“Eh, Kohaku?”

Kohaku snapped his head to the side sharply and scowled.

“Akihiko?” he said as a slightly older man approached them “Why do I have to see you on a day off?”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Akihiko snorted as he approached them “What’s up, Kohaku?”

“Just spending some time with my new step sister,” Kohaku simpered and nodded to Sachiko.

“Sup,” Sachiko nodded.

“Ludi, this is the manga artist, Yukimura Akihiko, we knew each other at school,” Kohaku introduced and Sachiko perked up.

“No fucking way!” she exclaimed, ignoring Kohaku’s reprimanding look “You created Aura Break!”

“You like it?” Akihiko smiled as he sat on her other side.

“I’ve been reading it since the first volume came out,” Sachiko said as she suddenly turned into fangirl mode “I’m more of a video games person but your manga series is one of the few things I religiously follow.”

“Aura Break, isn’t that the supernatural series you’re currently making?” Kohaku raised an eyebrow and Akihiko nodded.

“Yeah, the one that you find is too violent to have a plot,” he smirked and Kohaku sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Akihiko, you have some great ideas but when there’s a massive blood splatter every three pages, I just get the idea that your plot is nothing but blood, guts and heads getting themselves removed by invisible hands from their bodies.”

“There is a good plot, I really like it,” Sachiko protested then turned back to Akihiko “I really hate the cliffhanger you left in your latest volume.”

Akihiko just grinned and eyed Wolf who came up to them.  Wolf placed his head in Sachiko’s lap and growled when the manga artist reached out to stroke him.

“I wouldn’t he only lets a select few pet him,” Sachiko warned “Even with his muzzle he can get aggressive.”

“He is beautiful,” Akihiko commented “Where did you get him?”

“Found him as a puppy,” Sachiko nuzzled Wolf lovingly.

Kohaku smiled as Sachiko continued chatting away with Akihiko before ducking his head to read through his notes.

 

* * *

 

“Ludi, thank you for coming out with me,” Kohaku said as Sachiko took Wolf’s muzzle and collar off once they were inside.

“It’s nothing,” Sachiko murmured as Wolf padded around the lobby, wagging his tail.

“We should do this again,” Kohaku prompted.

“I hope not every Sunday,” Sachiko raised an eyebrow and Kohaku simpered.

“Probably not but soon, I hope.  You are enjoyable company.”

“Did we have the same day?” Sachiko snorted “I wasn’t that enjoyable company.”

“I’m being sincere, Ludi,” Kohaku smiled “Perhaps we should avoid the video game store next time.”

Sachiko snorted again as she walked off in the direction of her room with Wolf following her.  Wolf turned his head slightly to look at Kohaku and Kohaku met his gaze.  A beat later, they went in opposite directions.


End file.
